#1 Wisconsin women's hockey beats #2 Buckeyes: 3 takeaways
Wisconsin women's hockey captain Caroline Harvey makes the difference, as Mark Johnson shook up his lineup
The previous 11 meetings between the Wisconsin women’s hockey team and the Ohio State Buckeyes featured these powerhouse programs as the two highest-ranked teams in the country. This weekend in Columbus, Ohio, is no different, and the Wisconsin Badgers got the better of their WCHA conference rival to open the series.
In her first game against OSU, rookie Adéla Šapovalivová found the back of the net first. From the high slot, Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms delivered a puck through traffic to Šapovalivová waiting in front of the crease on the power play. The WCHA Rookie of the Year backhanded the puck past Buckeyes goaltender Hailey McLeod, perhaps with some help on an own-goal redirection by OSU defender Mira Jungåker.
Šapovalivová’s eighth career goal held as the potential game-winner until OSU captain Jocelyn Amos scored, with McLeod pulled, 36 seconds before the final buzzer sounded to get her Buckeyes within one. A goal by Badgers captain Caroline Harvey just a few minutes earlier, however, proved to be the insurance Wisconsin needed for a 2-1 victory.
Laila Edwards remains at forward
In both games of the Smashville Showcase, Badgers head coach Mark Johnson moved reigning first-team All-American Laila Edwards from the blue line back to forward. Despite Edwards leading the country in her junior season while playing on the wing, she had all but one game as a senior on defense to prepare for her potential role with the U.S. Olympic Team.
Apparently, Johnson liked what he saw in Nashville. The Cleveland Heights native returned to Wisconsin’s top forward line, providing the Badgers with increased forward depth. Against Ohio State, UW rolled all four forward lines through most of the night while playing a rotation of five defenders.
Wisconsin women’s hockey shuffles lines
Regardless of where Edwards has played this season, one line has been a constant. In each game all three players have been healthy, Šapovalivová had centered wingers Kirsten Simms and Lacey Eden. That changed in the series-opener against the Buckeyes.
While Šapovalivová remains on the top power play unit, she centered Eden and junior Kelly Gorbatenko most of Friday evening. Wisconsin’s leading goal-scorer, Cassie Hall, played between Simms and Edwards.
Properly assessing the shakeup is complicated. Neither team scored a five-on-five goal. During the third period, Hall remained on the bench for over ten minutes of game time after blocking a shot. In that time, the Badgers rolled three centers through their lines. That provided UW an opportunity to showcase its center depth as Šapovalivová, graduate student Marianne Picard, and rookie Charlotte Pieckenhagen stood tall in crunch time against one of the best teams in the country.
Caroline Harvey should win the Patty Kaz
Her (perhaps month-long) absence to play with Team USA in the Olympic Games will complicate this conversation, but, as the first semester of play comes to a close, Wisconsin’s captain should be the heavy favorite to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
Midway through the season, Harvey’s case for the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey is unmatched. Between her individual skill as the country’s leading scorer and premier defender, UW’s team success, and performance in the clutch (twice directly contributing to game-tying goals with mere seconds remaining), no player in the nation currently matches the reigning national defender of the month’s Patty Kaz resume.
Harvey created a four-on-four breakaway to score what proved to be the game-winning goal with just over four minutes to play. With her tremendous speed, Harvey turned just a one-step difference between herself and Swedish national team defender Mira Jungåker at the Badger blue line into an irrecoverable margin for the Buckeyes.
If Harvey maintains her 2.0 points per game pace in the first three weeks of January, she may also create an insurmountable lead in the race for women’s collegiate ice hockey’s highest individual honor.
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I am with you on KK. Abbey Murphy would in the conversation if she could just stop being Abbey Murphy in th penalty box. Dunne is hisorically a terrifying member of a terrifying hockey family. I am super interested in hearing what you thought of the announcers on Friday and their descriptions of McNaughton. Ava is our person, so I take her for granted. Like I did with Soupy and Kronish, while I could not have been more impressed by Emma Soderberg or Regean Kirk. A reverse homerism maybe.